Toddler returns with crown

Wyoming's Baby Miss All American Girl, Rylie McMullan, took her talents to the national stage and came home with two awards.

Rylie, an 18-month-old from Green River, recently attended the All American Girl National Finals competition in Las Vegas. After competing, she came home fourth alternate and was given the national photogenic award in her age division. The national photogenic honor came with a crown and sash, which Rylie proudly put on while in the Green River Star office.

Her mother, Bree McMullan, who made the trip with Rylie, said she was proud of Rylie finishing in the top five in her first national competition.

"It was fun," Bree said. " Long and fun."

The competition kicked off with the Wyoming and New Mexico contestants hanging out together for a day of fun prior to the competition. Bree said one item she quickly realized she forgot to pack was a stroller or carrier for Rylie and she wound up having to carry her everywhere while they were at Circus Circus. Regardless of the forgotten stroller, Bree and Rylie were there to have fun; and they did.

The next day, another pageant mom bought Bree a stroller for Rylie and the rest of the trip went a little smoother. During this day, Bree and Rylie attended a fun breakfast and a party. It was during breakfast that contestants had the chance to spend time with the current national title holder. Rylie's group made tie dye shirts. The children painted the shirts and then the parents squirted rubbing alcohol on them, which created a tie-dyed appearance.

It was then time for Rylie to compete in the baby play portion of the competition. Since some of the competitors in this age group can't talk yet, they will play with toys, bubbles or ribbons to interact with the judges.

"That actually was my biggest stressor," Bree said. "I had no idea what we were walking her into for that."

However, Rylie found the bubbles and enjoyed playing with them.

After this competition, Rylie participated in a couple more parties, one the Wyoming competitors wore gold dresses, in another they dressed up like porcelain dolls and in a third they dressed up like TY animals, but changed the TY to WY to show which state they were from.

"They kept them really busy," Bree said.

The next competition was casual wear. This was the first time Rylie had ever appeared on stage and she chose to stay in Bree's arms the whole time.

"She was the only one that stayed in a mom's arms, but it was her first time," Bree explained.

The next stage of competition was the party dress. Once again, Rylie decided to stay in her mother's arms for the stage portion, but Bree noticed she was much more excited to get on the stage and wave at everyone. Bree said she was the last one in her category to go and she kept pulling the curtains back while she was behind the stage to try and get on the stage.

"The whole competition she stayed in my arms," Bree said. "As long as she was in my arms, she was good."

For Rylie's first time on stage, Bree felt she did well. They used this as an opportunity to see what they need to improve on for next year's competition. Bree said since Rylie is the current Wyoming Baby Miss All American Girl, she will need to give up her title to next year's winner. This means she can only compete at the national level as an at-large competitor.

As for preparing for next year, Bree said they will need to improve on Rylie's party dress outfit and select a different baby play outfit for her. She felt the casual wear was pretty close to what was expected.

"We have a better idea of what to wear next year," she said.

When it came time to crown the winners, Rylie slept through most of it. After days of competition and parties she was worn out.

"She was tired out," Robert McMullan, Rylie's father, said.

Bree said Rylie had to make four outfit changes in a short period of time and she was tired after it.

The prepare Rylie for the stage, Bree intends on having her practice at other pageant preliminary rounds.

"She really enjoys this," Bree said. "I can't wait for next year. It will be fun."